> What's interesting is I heard that if you pay cash, up front the doctor's office will charge you less. I was a member of a "health cost sharing ministry" for

> What's interesting is I heard that if you pay cash, up front the doctor's office will charge you less. I was a member of a "health cost sharing ministry" for about a year, while working for a startup that didn't offer insurance. The idea was that I paid a monthly membership fee to the ministry, and in exchange they would cover my healthcare costs - minus a set amount, for which I was responsible directly. If I made the effort to negotiate a discount with the provider, that discount counted toward the part I was responsible for. By inquiring about a cash discount and being able to provide a reasonable assurance that the bill would actually get paid in a timely manner, I never once paid out of pocket for a doctor's visit during that time.